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Godred
Godred, named after Godred MacHarold, a famed king of Sodor, was a pompous mountain engine and the Culdee Fell Railway's original No. 1, until he was scrapped in 1900. Biography ''The Railway Series'' Godred was a very reckless and irresponsible engine, who took no advice from anyone and put too much faith in his automatic brakes, which he believed would save him no matter what the circumstance was. No matter what his crew and the manager did, he still carried on in his same old way. On June 4th, just over a month after the Culdee Fell Railway had first opened, Godred derailed at Devil's Back and fell down the mountain, smashing to smithereens when he reached the bottom. Godred was found the next day, but unfortunately he was beyond repair and was scrapped, his parts being used to mend the other four engines. Culdee told Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel and Duncan the story of Godred during his visit to Crovan's Gate. Skarloey and Rheneas both wisely neglected to tell a speechless Sir Handel and Duncan that the story of Godred was made up by Culdee. No. 6 was also told the story of Godred when he was put on maintenance duties as punishment for his recklessness, and he became considerably more cautious afterwards. (RWS; Mountain Engines) Though it is said that Culdee made up Godred's accident, both "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways" and "Sodor: Reading Between the Lines" confirm that he did actually fall off the mountain. It is likely that the Rev. W. Awdry chose to end the story the way he did so as not to upset his readers. Personality and Traits Godred was proud, conceited, self-centered and reckless; it has been speculated by Culdee that this is due to the nature of his naming. Godred put too much faith in his automatic brakes, and believed that no harm could come to him thanks to them. Technical Details Basis Godred is based on "L.A.D.A.S.", the original No. 1 of the Snowdon Mountain Railway, who suffered a similar fate as him. L.A.D.A.S' accident was caused by subsidence of the track, leading to the pinion wheel disengaging; this was amended by fitting guard-bars to the rack-rail. As the Culdee Fell Railway opened four years later, it seems likely that guard-bars would have been required by the Board of Trade from the outset, implying a different chain of events which would have caused the derailment, somehow disengaging both the pinion wheels and the gripper fitted to the engine which connects with the guard-bars to prevent such an event from occurring. L.A.D.A.S..jpg L.A.D.A.S.Remains.png|L.A.D.A.S. destroyed Livery Godred is painted in the Culdee Fell Railway's signature purple livery with orange lining. His bufferbeams are painted red, and he carries his name on a red nameplate in gold lettering on each side of his tanks. In a magazine story, Godred is painted red with yellow lining, and is also fitted with buffers and a single chain coupling in the centre of his bufferbeam. Category:Railway Series-exclusive characters Category:Awdry-created characters Category:Culdee Fell Railway Category:Steam engines Category:Tank engines Category:0-4-2 Category:Deceased characters